Fish and Chips

Fish and chips is battered white fish — usually cod or haddock — deep-fried until the crust turns crisp, served alongside thick-cut fried potatoes. It is Britain's best-known dish, and one of its oldest fast foods: fish and chip shops have sold it from seaside kiosks to inland high streets since the Victorian era, when railways began carrying fresh sea fish inland and paired it with cheap fried potatoes for the first time.

What it really is

A thick fillet of white fish is dipped in a batter — often made with beer, which lightens the crust and adds colour — then lowered into oil hot enough to set the crust before the fish inside overcooks. The chips are cut thick, parboiled or blanched, then fried a second time so the outside crisps while the middle stays soft; that second fry is what separates a chip from an ordinary fry.

The batter protects the fish, it does not season it. Salt and vinegar are added at the counter rather than in the kitchen, which is why both are offered rather than built into the recipe.

How it is served

• Wrapped in paper, straight from the fryer, eaten by hand or with a small wooden fork.
• On a plate with mushy peas, a lemon wedge and tartare sauce.
• Salted and doused with vinegar to taste, at the point of serving.

How to write it on the menu

• Name the fish: cod and haddock are standard, but the batter suits any firm white fish.
• Say whether the batter is made with beer — it carries gluten from barley as well as wheat.
• "Chips" means thick-cut, twice-fried potatoes here, not thin fries.